Terra Nox
Terra Nox is the homeworld of the main characters of Kingdom Hearts: Sinister, a post-apocalyptic setting split into two halves. It has just finished a brutal Civil War, and the land is in the process of recovery. Story Sinister's storyline starts out with a cutscene that exlains the war, its reason and its results, as well as the plague, using the traditional Kingdom Hearts format of a super-detailed soundless cutscene against a background of Utada Hikaru's music. After the Prologue, a normal cutscnene insues, in which a soldier awakes his commanding officer, telling him that his men are ready to move. The officer groans but rises anyway, although he is somewhat unsteady on his feet. The soldier brushes off the officer's behavior saying "it was probably just 'cuz of last night", a reference which is explained when the officer's unsteady footsteps knock over a bottle of alcoholic drink. As the military officer raises his head, it is revealed to be Kleatus Synestyr, who then exits the tent. After another short cutscene, the player can then choose between playing the tutorial, which involves the standard actions, or continuing, which begins the story right away. The story starts when Kleatus walks out to another figure standing on a slight ledge, which overlooks an army camp. Doing so triggers a cutscene between Kleatus and Rafael, who is revealed to have already been awake for some time, due to his lack of a hangover, unlike Kleatus. Rafael organizes the men to break apart the camp, and sets them to their task, and then brings Kleatus to the command tent to give him a status update on the movements of the other remaining Northern armies, as well as the Southern army. He especially makes a note to Kleatus about the movement of the army remnant under Abraham Kasslegard's control, predicting that their current path would bring them into contact with the force he controls, which outnumber theirs by a 1.5:1 ratio. Kleatus elects to alter their course through the Forest of Sighs, whose borders they have been following since they returned from the South. Rafael asks if he is sure of the idea, due to the Forest of Sighs' shift to the Forest of Wails farther north, in which Nightmare Creatures have been spotted in excess. Kleatus responds that he doesn't believe in children's stories, and that the Creatures are figments of "broken soldiers' imaginations", a phrase which refers to post-traumatic stress disorder. Kleatus leads his army into the forest, and after several days' ride the tress begin to change species, signifying the change in the forest. Rafael loosens his blade and Kleatus scoffs at him for acting like a child, when suddenly they hear a cry and look behind them to find one of their men missing.﻿ Locations Northern Kingdoms Kleatus & Rafael's homeland, a totalitarian monarchy regime with hard-line issues toward life and war. The emerged the unofficial "victor" or the war, as they recieved fewer losses than the South. It is the main setting of Sinister for the first few story arcs, as the Southern area is not seen in the story. Southern Kingdom A theocratic nation that is far more peaceful than its northern neighbor, the Southern Kingdom isn't seen in Sinister, but is Abyline's homeland. North Forests A series of interconnected forests that runs north-south through the Northern Kingdoms, ending at the border and just before that capital city of the North. It is into these forests that Kleatus leads the North Army Remnant to their ultimate but accidental doom, and the supposed grave of Rafael. Throughout Kingdom Hearts: Sinister, they play a major geographical role, as most of the major events in the initial story arcs occur here. The forests consist of: the Forest of Sighs, the Forest of Wails, the Forest of Hunger, and the Forest of the End, the last of which contains the Immaterial Cave, where the fabric of the world is said to be the weakest. Soundtrack The theme of Terra Nox is the first half of Evanescence's "Hello" because of its sad, haunting melody, which perfectly mirrors the landscape in most places. Another reason, besides the melody, is that it is one of creator Xelak's favorite Evanescence songs. The battle theme of Terra Nox is the song "Run This Town", sung by Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye West. The song was chosen because of its "badass" tune and dark, violent themes, reflecting the war that has recently ended. It is notable that, although the three artists who sing the song are not some of Xelak's favorites, the song itself is one. It should also be noted that "Run This Town" was originally intended to be the theme music for the Deathhead Coalition before The Coalition Chronicles was cancelled.